How do you like to dry and cure your buds?

I really boned my last harvest by letting my buds get too dry before I started curing. The bud was great but 2 out of my 5 strains weren't as smooth as they should have been. A 3rd out of those 5 was very harsh immediately after drying. I kept it sealed curing for 2 weeks and I couldn't believe the difference. It was like smoking a completely different batch of bud. It wound up being the smoothest smoker of all 5 strains after the short cure. If it wasn't dried too quickly preventing the bud from being able to cure properly it would have been incredible.

This time I decided to get my shit together and properly dry / cure my buds. I clip branches and spread them on a 6 tier 4' drying net. I try to keep as much stem on as possible for a nice slow dry on the buds. After 3-5 days when the smallest stems on the branch snap, the buds are slightly crisp on the outside, and the large stems bend without snapping I placed the branches in tall sealed plastic containers to sweat out the moisture. I've burped the container 2 times each day. If the buds are slightly moist again I leave the lid off for a few hours then place the lid back on. Once most of the moisture is out after the sweat process (about 5 days) I clip the buds from the branch and seal for 2 weeks to finish the cure process. I've only got 1 strain as far as being clipped from the branches and into the final cure stage so I won't know the results for another 10 days or so. After smoking a few test buds I'm very happy with the smoothness. It should be stellar after the final 2 week sealed cure.

Do any of you do something different that might yield even better results? I'm growing in water to waste hydro and years ago I was a soil grower. I sure don't remember having to do much of anything for stellar flavor before moving to the hydro buckets. It's also been what seems like half a lifetime ago since I've grown in soil so it's possible I just don't accurately remember the process I used to dry / cure and may not accurately remember the smoothness of the smoke. Any other soil growers that have switched to hydro? Did you notice any difference in flavor or smoothness of the end product?

In the winter here, its super dry. After the initial hang in the tent, i alternate between brown bagging it and laying it back out on a drying screen to slow things down.
After that they go to the jars with minimal burping or fear of mold. I use cheapo amazon digital humidistats to keep an eye on things.

I get best results by cutting at the base and hang drying the entire plant, leaves and all, then dry trim, and into jars at the right rh. I try to maintain a 55-60% rh while drying, then I just jar test some of the smaller buds to see where the jarred RH is at. A good slow dry has the most impact.

paper bags inside cardboard boxes for 7-14 days , cut the buds down to golfball size, after approx 7 days put inside bucket with sealed lid and monitor RH easy in my view

What is the rh we are looking for in the jars with the humidity gauge i bought some to put in jars but have no idea what im looking for

Robert venneri said:

What is the rh we are looking for in the jars with the humidity gauge i bought some to put in jars but have no idea what im looking for

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I will say that the final rh is down to personal preference. The accepted norm is 62rh. Some like a little more moist others prefer dryer weed. 59–64rh should be fine. 70rh or more is put away wet and your going to get mold.

Scuzzman said:

paper bags inside cardboard boxes for 7-14 days , cut the buds down to golfball size, after approx 7 days put inside bucket with sealed lid and monitor RH easy in my view

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I gotta switch to 5 gallon buckets with gasket lid. I've been using plastic containers that are about a gallon size and it's not a good method because I'm going to run out of containers very quickly and I'm barely halfway through my harvest. I've heard lots of people recommend the cardboard box / bag. What does that do? I think I'm gonna grab a couple of those 5 gallon homer buckets with the orange lid and rubber o ring. The extra space is gonna be luxurious so I can keep em on the stems without cramming the branches into a small container.

Rurumo said:

I get best results by cutting at the base and hang drying the entire plant, leaves and all, then dry trim, and into jars at the right rh. I try to maintain a 55-60% rh while drying, then I just jar test some of the smaller buds to see where the jarred RH is at. A good slow dry has the most impact.

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How's that dry trimming work out? I've always wet trimmed. For some reason I have the perception dry trimming is harder.

You want smooth sticky smoke, bring the RH down to a stable low 60's before sealing for long term storage. If you care about white ash then bring it down into the mid-high 50's but IMO the smoke isn't as good in 50's and that few points into the low 60's does make a difference IMO.

I wet trim, slow dry, jar when done. I don't do any of that burping stuff. Fresh weed for me. Been doing it this way for decades and will continue doing it that way. I've done the cure and all that. I don't hassle with it. My weed stinks and tastes great. I've had people ask me how long I cured it for and when I tell them I just jarred it up a few days ago some seem bewildered.

After a few months it gets too old for my liking and gets put in the dry ice hash bin.

xtsho said:

I wet trim, slow dry, jar when done. I don't do any of that burping stuff. Fresh weed for me. Been doing it this way for decades and will continue doing it that way. I've done the cure and all that. I don't hassle with it. My weed stinks and tastes great. I've had people ask me how long I cured it for and when I tell them I just jarred it up a few days ago some seem bewildered.

After a few months it gets too old for my liking and gets put in the dry ice hash bin.

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Thank you for this. I am new, but have wondered. Once the RH is 60-62% (and stable), what is the point in burping? It's "curing," right? I can get a stable RH in my drying tent with a humidifier.

Unless something is going on chemically, I think I'll follow xtsho's lead.

Also, gonna try dry ice hash when my next harvest supersedes my old stash! Just need the screens.

JimmyJackCorn said:

Thank you for this. I am new, but have wondered. Once the RH is 60-62% (and stable), what is the point in burping? It's "curing," right? I can get a stable RH in my drying tent with a humidifier.

Unless something is going on chemically, I think I'll follow xtsho's lead.

Also, gonna try dry ice hash when my next harvest supersedes my old stash! Just need the screens.

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If your buds are in the low 60's and stable than I see no reason why you would need to burp. You get a feel for these things, maybe monitor the first few days but imo when I feel my buds are in the low 60's, which is all by feel for me, I never open the bag up again. I also keep my dry room at a pretty stable 60/60 so I can leave my plants to dry and partially cure on the vine. I can leave my plants hanging for a month and they will never dry below 60. I trim and bag the buds same day and never burp the bag, ever.

I've only done 2 grows, but here's the process I follow. We live in a cooler climate so it can get dry in the house, but it just so happens I'm OCD on humidity because of my guitars.

Hang each branch in basement closet. RH% is a constant 50% in basement from humidifier (when needed). I use a smaller humidifier in the closet, along with an oscillating fan, and keep the RH in there at between 55% - 65%, usually maintained at 60% - 62% when possible. I haven't quite developed the right touch for feeling when the bud is dry, so this year I'll consider a small humidistat for the masons. Much like what @Rurumo mentioned above. I've used the "once the bud stem snaps" method so far, along with just squeezing the bud. The issue I have with this method is it's really subjective to each person.

Once I feel they are dry enough I dry trim, manicure, and jar for cure. I do follow the jar burping procedure for a few weeks until my nose tells me that much of the gassy smell is gone. I don't smoke tobacco as I've quit about 6 years ago, so I do rely on the old sniffer to pretty good effect. Once I think it's been gassed off enough they stay in the jars with the 62% humidipacks.

This is my Lambs Bread first grow, dry, and cure. Think I ended up with 55 grams in this batch.



This is both the above LB and the Jack Herer I dried later in the same way.

Chop plants down, pull fan leaves, hang branches on clothes hangers side by side using nodes themselves to hang from where they were chopped.
Hang branches in a moderately cool and humid room with minimal airflow for 8-10 days, from there I get to trimming the buds then they go into a sealed container for 7-10 more days while opening the container daily to allow the air to get refreshed, when having lots of pot in a big container I will toss the buds around to really get fresh air in there and then repeat this process daily until end result is achieved.

Once you cure for a couple weeks you should be able to put it into its final packaging/jar/bag and be golden, just don't put all your eggs (buds) in 1 basket because every time you open that bag/container you're changing its quality over time. Divy out your buds like you did and you'll always have nice cured stash.

calvin.m16 said:

Chop plants down, pull fan leaves, hang branches on clothes hangers side by side using nodes themselves to hang from where they were chopped.
Hang branches in a moderately cool and humid room with minimal airflow for 8-10 days, from there I get to trimming the buds then they go into a sealed container for 7-10 more days while opening the container daily to allow the air to get refreshed, when having lots of pot in a big container I will toss the buds around to really get fresh air in there and then repeat this process daily until end result is achieved.

Once you cure for a couple weeks you should be able to put it into its final packaging/jar/bag and be golden, just don't put all your eggs (buds) in 1 basket because every time you open that bag/container you're changing its quality over time. Divy out your buds like you did and you'll always have nice cured stash.

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I'm happy I read this post. I really appreciate the advice. I'm going to follow this routine for the rest of my harvest. I'm very much looking forward to the results. I'll report back how everything worked out when it's all cured up.